Church groups in Kerala have taken exception to the state Women’s Commission’s recommendations to the state Government to protect the rights and interests of nuns.

The Commission had asked the state Government to put in place measures to take legal action against parents who compel their underage daughters to become nuns. It had urged the Government to make sure the nuns were not dispossessed of their right to family property, and suggested that there be a proper rehabilitation strategy for nuns wanting to shed the cassock.

A senior church functionary in Kochi maintained the church had its own established traditions guiding all aspects of priesthood, and the Women’s Commission’s recommendations directly infringed on religious rights. “We have yet to decide if we need to respond too seriously to this or let it pass, since it is only a recommendation as of now,” he said.

In Thiruvananthapuram, the Catholic church leaders condemned the recommendations as misleading and untenable. Church spokesman Father Paul Thelakkad said the Canon Laws were specific that no woman below the age of 16 could become a nun. He claimed that the aspirants attain nunhood in Kerala only after they turn at least 20.

“The Women’s Commission says the recommendation was made on the basis of a petition it received. But before reaching conclusions, it should have enquired what the reality is. No procedural justice has been done in this case,” the Church stated.

The Women’s Commission had quoted studies, including those by international church groups, underlining that while barely one-fourth of male aspirants entering the Christian seminaries eventually become priests and the rest get off, before or during the formation years, few nuns manage to return to normal lives even if they wish to, because of severe social, church and family pressures, and the stigma.

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